Somewhere to Belong
by gxgirl-93
Summary: Arthur had always felt that he didn't belong with his so called family. And they didn't help in that fact either. So not long after his sixteenth birthday Arthur left to find that one place that he belonged and after five years he might be closer to it than he thinks in America. USUK, one sided FRUK, PRUCAN, mentioning of other pairings. T rating for now due to language
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Arthur Kirkland never really did feel as if he belonged in his family and his brothers were sure to remind him of that at any possible time that they got; even going as far to change the ringtone on his phone and lock it so that he could never change it again. And wait for every moment that Arthur seemed happy to send him a text or call him so that 'He is not one of us' from the lion king would play.

Arthur got in trouble at school constantly thanks to his brothers always teasing him about how he was different from the rest of their family. But all the trouble was not entirely their fault there were times when it was Arthurs doing; he would just take out his built up anger and hatred of his brothers on anyone that would so much as look at him.

After his sixteenth birthday Arthur had finally had enough of his so called family as he was calling them.

Late one night, he emptied out his school rucksack, packed as many clothes and necessities as he could; he even took money from his "brothers" wallets and left the house that he grew up in for the last time.

 _"_ _If I don't belong here then I won't stay here anymore. I'll find where I do belong myself."_

Arthur made his way to the bus station where he knew that holiday coaches always lined up first thing in the morning. He got himself a ticket for the first one that was bound somewhere on mainland Europe.

His next destination Berlin, Germany.

* * *

Germany hadn't been to bad a place to start.

The hostel that he stayed in wasn't the best. But in order to have money for food it would have to do.

He was able to find himself a small part time job as a waiter a little Italian restaurant.

The owner Feliciano Vargas knew what it felt like to be away from home and gave Arthur a job to help him out. Although his brother Lovino wasn't too happy about it; although he just didn't like being dragged to Germany by his brother who had fallen head over heels for a German by the name of Ludwig.

Arthur had seen Feliciano and Ludwig together and could see that they were happy together. But he was envious that Feliciano had found the place that he belongs, and he still didn't feel like he did.

So Arthur started to think about where to head to next.

* * *

After being in Germany for seven months Arthur made his way all across Europe and most of Asia.

He had met lots of new people a long his journey. In Romania he met Vlad a rather eccentric lad with a strange preference for the night. In Norway he met Lukas and Matthias. Lukas was a native of Norway, he was quite reserved, Matthias on the other hand seemed like the complete opposite of Lukas; he was from Denmark and was very loud and over bearing in his nature. Whilst in a short stay in Russia he met a very creepy Russian by the name of Ivan and Yao a merchant from China who was living with the oh so creepy Ivan; which confused Arthur but decided not to stay long enough to find out anymore. Whilst in Spain he worked in a small coffee shop with a little too happy for himself Spaniard by the name of Antonio. Arthur also had the pleasure of running into Lovino again and for some reason had left his brother in Germany for the Spaniard.

* * *

With it being five years exactly to the day that he first left his so called home, Arthur found himself in Paris, France.

As Arthur went about his daily life in France he couldn't help but get the feeling that he had a shadow following him everywhere he went.

 _"_ _There it is again. Bloody hell this is getting annoying."_

Arthur had tried to report his stalker to the police, but not being able to speak French and the police not really being able to understand English it just ended up as a waist to time.

So when Arthur found his stalker following him, he did his best to lose him in the streets in any attempts to lose him.

It was to no avail though his stalker knew the streets of Paris better than him. To be fair though Arthur had only been there a few months at most.

One day he found himself without a stalker

 _"_ _Oh thank bloody hell. Fucking git must have gotten tired of me at last."_

After finally being without said stalker Arthur felt like he could finally go and get pissed like he wanted to do for quite some time but didn't dare risk his stalker carrying or dragging his alcohol unconscious body away and do whatever he wants to him.

Although the thought did occur to him that it might be someone sent from his long forgotten family, but he quickly dismissed that idea.

 _"_ _Those bastards don't care about me to do something like that."_

Arthur went into the nearest bar he could find to get absolutely totally plastered

The next morning Arthur woke up in a strange room he had never seen before. To his surprise he was absolutely butt naked and for some reason his ass hurt like there was no tomorrow.

 _"_ _Where the bloody hell am I? What the fuck happened last night?"_

Arthur looked around and found someone sleeping next to him. He obviously guessed that the person next to him was the owner of the room he was in.

Arthur was annoyed because he couldn't remember a thing from the previous night.

"Bonjour mon cher. How are you this fine morning?"

Arthur looked at the person next to him with an annoyed look on his face.

"Who the fuck are you?"

"Oh you don't remember. Oh mon cher you hurt me. Don't you remember?"

Arthur still had the look of confusion on his face

"Oh mon petite lapin you don't remember. My name is Francis and I've been watching you from a far."

"What your my bloody stalker?"

"And you came right it the bar where I work in, I was so happy. And then you got how do you English put, plastered? Oui plastered. And when my shift ended I brought you home and well I'm sure that you can figure out the rest from the situation that we are in right mon cher."

Arthur was absolutely pissed off at the French man next to him. He didn't care who he was or how he got to be here, but this fucking frog had pissed him off to the point that he wanted to kill him.

"So now we can live together as a happy little couple oui?"

"Like bloody hell."

 _WHACK_

Arthur beats the living daylights out of this Francis person.

Arthur then decides _"Fuck France. Fuck this country I'm getting out of here."_

He went back to his hostel and packed up his stuff and headed to the airport.

And then he got his ticket bound for America.

* * *

 **A/N: don't go thinking that's the end of Francis now.**

 **this chapter is kind of a backstory especially in the beginning with lots of character intros.**

 **hope you enjoyed the first chapter. oh and don't going stalking people, speaking from experience it's really creeping**

 **favs, follows and reviews are all welcomed**

 **till next time gxgirl-93 out**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Arthur arrived hours later in Philadelphia. And the long plane journey had nothing to help his sore ass.

Arthur held high hope for America. He thought that it might be his one chance to find that one place that he belongs. After America well he didn't really want to try Australia, it was too far away to even bother trying or think about, so the only next best option would be Canada. With fifty states how could he go wrong, they all spoke English although from Arthur's perspective it seemed like broken English.

And of course well he just hoped that he could find some sought of decent place to stay in he didn't want to end up living in the gutter so to speak.

So after leaving the airport he headed into town to in the hope of finding a decent hostel to stay in, his plan was that after he found somewhere to stay was to find some sought of job to earn a bit of money cause that plane ticket cost him a good shiny penny that he did not want to think about ever again. After walking around for what seemed like hours on end he still needed to find somewhere half decent. He thought that Philadelphia was a good place to start but who knows, he might have to catch a train to somewhere like New York City although if he did he could be sure that he would be living in the gutter.

When the sun was starting to set he finally, finally found a hostel.

"Oh at bloody last. Why did it have to be so hard to find somewhere? Who would've thought it would have been so hard to find a hostel."

But Arthur didn't care at this point he just wanted sleep the plane journey was so long and he hadn't really slept all day and jet lag was really starting to set in at this point. So he went in and booked himself into the hostel and then just slept.

He fell onto his bed with a groan. "Uhhh fucking jet lag."

Arthur woke up the next day to find that it was pretty late in the day although he could always blame his jet lag for that. So after leaving the hostel and finding something decent-ish to eat, seeing how little cash he had left after exchanging Euros for dollars, he went job hunting. Lucky enough for him it didn't take too long, it was easy for him to find a job to get, for some reason the Americans loved his British accent and easily offered him a good job working in a nice little fancy restaurant as a waiter and the pay was going to be good. Who knew Arthur might after working in this restaurant for a good few months he might be able find a cheap little apartment to stay in, things were looking good for a change.

* * *

After being in Philadelphia for a few months Arthur was starting to have extremely good high hopes that maybe just maybe he had finally, finally had found his once place. That was until one very unfortunate day.

Arthur was walking down the street as usual; he had the day off from the restaurant and was just taking in the sights as he always did on his day off thinking. _"I might start looking to see if there were any apartments available. I mean I'm definitely building up a sizeable amount of money from the restaurant although the hostel is not helping."_

As he was walking down the street he got a very bad feeling that someone was staring at him.

And then all of a sudden a pair of arms had wrapped around him. "Mon petite lapin I finally found you after so long. Ah~ it is so good to see you again."

Arthur looked at the person, horrified to see who it was. "Oh bloody hell not you again."

"Oh mon cher what do you mean? It's me your sweet dear Francis, come let's go to the airport and go back to sweet Paris and live happily ever after together oui."

"No way in hell! I am not going anywhere near you!" Arthur had managed to get out of Francis' hold.

Francis had tightly grabbed a hold off Arthur's arm. "But petite lapin come on our plane will be leaving shortly."

"No let go of me!"

"Yo dude is there a problem here? Do you need any help?"

Arthur looked at the person who had just placed his hand on Francis' shoulder, surprised to see a someone actually helping him.

Arthur looked at the person with sandy blonde hair, wonderful sky blue eyes hidden behind a pair of square rimmed glasses.

"Oh no you silly little American he just with me and we're just about to head to the airport." Francis just brushed off the hand of the stranger with his free hand.

"I am not going to the airport with you, you stupid bloody frog!"

"Oh mon cher don't say things like that, come on lets go to our little home." Francis tried to pull Arthur in the direction of the airport.

"No way in hell!" Arthur did his best to fight off Francis but it didn't seem to work.

"Ah yo sorry Frenchie dude but I don't think bushy brows here wants to go with you man."

Arthur flinched slightly at the mention of his large eyebrows.

"And would you know you silly little American."

"I am not a 'silly American' dude I'm a Hero. And look he doesn't want to go with you, so why don't you back off."

"You know I do have to agree with the American here. Back off you frog! Your are nothing but a bloody stalker."

"Dude he's a stalker? Then seriously as a hero I cannot allow you to go anywhere near him."

"O-Oh but mon cher I thought you loved me as I love you?"

"I do not love you, you frog. You stalked me for months and then when I got drunk you fucking raped me!"

"He did what man?"

"I-I did not do such a thing, it was consensual oui?"

"I don't remember a thing a bloody thing of what happened that night."

"Ok look dude I think you need to go before I call the cops on you."

"This is not over mon cher I will get you to come back home with me." Francis then left thinking that he didn't want to get caught by the police.

"Yo man you ok?"

"Tsk great just bloody great now I've got to find somewhere else."

"What da ya mean?"

"He's obviously been following me again. I've got to find somewhere else to stay now. It took me forever to find that place."

"What ya talkin' about?"

"I've probably got to go out of state, find another stupid hostel to stay in and then another job."

"Whoa man you staying in a hostel? If that Frenchie dude is giving problems then why don't you stay at my apartment for a bit, until you can find somewhere else."

Arthur was confused at the American, giving him a place to stay but it was confusing as to why he goes around saying that he's a hero, he couldn't quite believe it. But at this point he was willing to agree to anything if it meant getting away from Francis.

"Fine but. Ok . . . only until I find somewhere else or I've earned up enough to get of this state."

"Whatever dude. You can crash on the couch if you want. Come on I'll show you the way. The names Alfred by the way, Alfred .F. Jones. But call me Al."

"Arthur Kirkland."

Arthur followed Alfred to his apartment keeping an eye out for Francis just in case.

* * *

 **A/N: I told you that Francis wold be back and we have Alfred who really did get to act like a hero.**

 **I just want to say that if the first two chapters have sounded weird in wording or how its read then that's because I experimented with transcribing them from an audio recording that I made. the other chapters won't be like that they will be done how I normally do it.**

 **I'm not too sure when then next chapter will be up I've been really busy lately with Uni.**

 **i'll shut up before I start rambling**

 **favs, follows and reviews are all welcomed**

 **till next time gxgirl-93 out**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Arthur followed Alfred for a couple of blocks until they arrived outside of a large apartment complex. He followed Alfred inside the building. They entered the elevator and Arthur watched as Alfred pressed the button for the fourth floor.

"Really you couldn't even bother to take the stairs for the fourth floor."

Alfred looked at the Brit. "Not really. The stairs aren't exactly the safest option in this building. The building manager has been meaning to get them fixed but hasn't been able to. We only take the stairs in an emergency."

Arthur couldn't deny that was a valid excuse. They carried out the remainder of their short journey in silence neither of them knowing what to say to the other. When the doors to the elevator opened Arthur followed Alfred out and down the hallway, almost walking into him when Alfred came to an abrupt stop.

"We're here dude." Alfred reached into his jean pocket and pulled out his keys.

Arthur rolled his eyes as he saw the apartment number. _"Four oh seven, really. How American can this guy get?"_

Alfred opened the door and motioned for Arthur to follow him in. "Yo Mattie I'm back."

Arthur looked around the apartment as he heard footsteps coming from what believed to be the kitchen.

"Hey Al. I didn't expect you back so soon. Did you get what I asked?"

"Sure thing bro." Alfred handed over a small plastic bag.

"Thanks Al." Mattie caught sit of a smaller blond standing not too far away from Alfred. "Arthur is that you?"

Arthur looked to where he heard his name, shocked by who he saw. "Matthew? What are you doing here?"

"I told you I live with my brother right?" Arthur nodded in response. "Well this is my brother Alfred that I told you about."

Arthur nearly smacked himself on forehead. "Now I see it the resemblance. Why didn't I see it earlier?"

"Just chuck it down to the situation dude. Hey Mattie how do you two know each other by the way?"

"We both work in the same restaurant Al; remember when I told we had someone new starting a few months ago."

"Oh yeah now I remember." Alfred turned to Arthur with a grin on his face. "Wow totally wasn't expecting you from what Mattie told me."

Another set of footsteps could be heard running through the apartment and heading towards them, with a voice shutting just as loud. "BIRDIE!" when the person causing all the noise came to a stop, Arthur saw yet another person from his workplace.

"Good to see that you're as loud as ever Gilbert."

"Huh eyebrows? Vhat are you doing here?"

Once again Arthur flinched slightly at the mention of his eyebrows. "I could ask you the same question Gilbert?"

"Al brought him here Gil?" Matthew blushed as he avoided Arthur's question.

Alfred leaned down and whispered into Arthur's ear. "Mattie and Gil are dating, and also Gli lives here to."

"Ja but vhy?"

Matthew looked to his brother. "Gil's right Al, why did you bring Arthur here?"

Alfred scratched the back of his neck. "Well you see he was being harassed by this weirdo French guy and I swooped in like a hero and saved him."

"That still doesn't quite explain Al."

Arthur sighed as he decided to take over from the idiot. "He's letting me stay here until I can find somewhere else to stay or I can get out of town and away from my stalker."

"What!" Matthew and Gilbert said in unison

"That stalker that you told us about from Paris is here"

"Und he's found you?" Gilbert interrupted Matthew

Arthur nodded his head in response.

"But you can't just leave Arthur, you're the best waiter we have."

"I'm sorry Matthew but it seems like I might not have a choice in the matter."

"Well ok I guess. You're welcome to stay as long as you need Arthur. Well dinner won't be to long make yourself comfortable."

Arthur sat down on the sofa, glad to find to that it was comfortable.

Dinner had been rather quite between the four of them, few words had been said throughout the meal, Alfred being the main contributor to that. Arthur just wanted to slap him as he started talking once again with a mouth full of food.

"Oh would you please would you stop talking whilst eating, it is disgusting." Arthur finally snapped.

"Geez man why do you have such a stick up your ass?"

"It's called having manners you twit, maybe you need to learn some." Alfred and Arthur both looked at each other ready to strangle each other.

"O-Ok you two calm down. L-Lets just try and not kill each other." Matthew did his best to calm the two down.

Luckily enough the rest of the meal passed by with relative peacefulness.

After they had finished eating they sat in front of the TV. Alfred had control of the remote and couldn't seem to make up his mind on what to watch. Matthew and Gilbert had claimed the smaller of the two sofas for themselves and Gilbert had draped an arm around Matthew's shoulders Arthur reached into his jean pocket and pulled a pack of cigarettes, he was about to light up the cigarette when Matthew spoke.

"Sorry Arthur but you can't smoke in here. But just off the hallway is a balcony where you can."

Arthur got up with a groan and made his way out of the apartment and towards the balcony that Matthew told him about.

"So Arthur told you two about that weirdo frenchie then?"

"Ja vhen Arthur first joined the restaurant I asked where he last was before moving here and when he said Paris I asked as to why he left there."

"And that's when he told us about his stalker. I never thought that he would track Arthur down though."

"Dude you should have heard the things that those two said to each other. He is not happy with that Frenchie." Alfred noticed something out of the corner of his eye. "Hey is this his phone?"

"Al whatever it is you're thinking of doing don't."

"I'm~ not going to do anything Mattie, maybe just mess around a little." Alfred started to look through Arthur's phone with a grin on his face. "Whoa dudes look at all these cool pics."

Matthew and Gilbert got up from where they were sitting and looked over Alfred's shoulders. They were in shock at what they saw. The pictures on Arthur's phone showed all the locations that he had been to as well all the people he met. Alfred soon got bored of the pictures and planned on changing the ringtone to something that would seem funny to the Brit. Alfred decided to listen to his current ringtone; they were all surprised as to what Arthur had chosen as his ringtone and they hadn't noticed that Arthur had come back into the apartment.

When Arthur heard that song coming from his phone he was furious. He walked over to Alfred and snatched the phone out of his hands and turned off the song.

"Why did you do that?" Arthur's face was down cast as he held the phone in his hand.

"Sorry dude, why do have it as that anyway?"

"It wasn't my choice it was the bastards I call brothers. They locked it so I could never change it."

"Scheisse that's harsh. Vhy vould they do something like that?"

Arthur sat back down on the sofa and ran his hand through his hair. "The bastards did it because they treated me like I didn't belong in the family. And trust me it wasn't just my phone, they pushed me around daily at home and at school. I got into a lot of trouble at school because of them. In the end I had enough and just left."

"But why did they treat you like that and why didn't your parents stop them?"

"My parents practically encouraged them as they stopped acknowledging my existence. And as to the reason why they all did it . . . it's because of who I am and they just couldn't accept it and just kept trying to convince me that it was just a phase."

"Viat do you me that you're gay?"

"That's right Gilbert. And my family just couldn't accept it."

Silence had fallen among the group. Each having trouble coming up with something to say.

"So . . ." Matthew was the first to try and defuse the tension in the room. "where did you go after you left home Arthur?"

"I went to Berlin. I worked in a small Italian restaurant."

"Hey Gil your from Berlin right bro?"

"Ja that's where vhe awesome me is from. Man I miss Luddie sometimes."

"Wait 'Luddie' as in Ludwig?"

"Ja vhat of it?"

"It's just that I met a Ludwig when I was in Berlin. He was in a relationship with the owner of the restaurant where I worked. Ludwig . . . Beilschmidt I believe."

"That's my baby bro. Oh mein gott how was Luddie?"

"So you're the Gilbert that Ludwig mentioned. Well when I left Berlin he was fine; and sometime later when I was in Spain in ran into Feliciano's brother Lovino again, he was living with this happy go lucky Spaniard named Antonio. Lovino told me that your brother and Feliciano had gotten married."

"No vay, vay to go Luddie. Und I can't believe that Lovino left his bruder."

"So where did you go after you left Berlin then?"

Arthur told them of his travels through Europe, all the placed that he went and the people that he met all the way up to when he got onto the plan to America. Alfred had found himself lost in the conversation. He couldn't believe all the thing that Arthur had seen and done.

"Wow dude that's all totally amazing."

"Ja that vas awesome. You've done so much in five years." Gilbert looked to his side and found that Matthew was asleep with his head resting on Gilbert's shoulder.

"Ksesesese looks like it' getting late." Gilbert carefully stood up, being careful not to disturb the sleeping Matthew. He carefully with ease lifted Matthew up into his arms bridal style. "See ya in the morning then you two." Gilbert left the room and headed towards his and Matthew's room.

Alfred and Arthur stayed watching the TV for another hour. Alfred had noticed that Arthur was slowly starting to fall asleep where he was sitting. He got up from where he was sitting as he went to grab some spare bedding for Arthur. When he got back Arthur had nearly fallen asleep.

"Hey I got some pillows and a blanket for you dude."

Arthur woke up from his half sleep state and looked at Alfred and took the items from him. "Thank you Alfred." Arthur was quick to set up the makeshift bed and curl up under the blanket and fall asleep.

Alfred switched off the TV and the lights in the kitchen and the lounge and made sure that the door to the apartment was locked before he headed to his room. When he got inside his room he was quick to shut the door and quietly as possible as to not disturb the other sleeping people. Alfred leaned against the door as he ran his hand through his hair; he gave a small fit bump as he leaned against the door.

 _"_ _Yes, yes Arthur's gay I have a chance. And oh god did he look super cute when he was falling asleep. I've got to find some way to make sure that he stays. I-I'll talk to Mattie tomorrow see if he can help."_ Alfred quickly changed his clothes and climbed under the covers of his bed, his thoughts completely filled with Arthur. He had to know if the Brit liked him too and if not he hoped that he could get Arthur to like him, but he knew that he didn't want to be like that French dude.

* * *

 **A/N: so I decided to take a small break from university work to write this chapter.**

 **we now have Canada and Prussia yay. and also a big reveal as to why Arthur left home, yep Arthur's family are going to be well the only way to describe it is bastards towards Arthur.**

 **oh Alfred i'm not going to make it easy for you to get Arthur.**

 **favs, follows and reviews are all welcomed**

 **till next time gxgirl-93 out**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The next morning Alfred was quick to jump out of his bed as soon as he could smell food being cooked in the kitchen. He knew that it would be Matthew making pancakes for everyone, and this was his chance to ask his brother for help.

As he made his way to the kitchen Alfred quickly glanced at the sleeping person still on the sofa. _"Good still asleep. And still so~ cute."_

Alfred walked into the kitchen in his usual brash style. "Mattie! Mattie! Mattie!"

Matthew nearly dropped the bowl of pancake mix in his arms as his brother came rushing into the kitchen like an idiot. He sighed as he placed the bowl back down on the counter and turned his attention back to the frying pan. "Pancakes will be ready shortly Al, you'll just have to wait."

"That's cool I can wait."

Matthew nearly dropped the spatula in his hands. "W-What? Normally you're pestering for early servings. Are you feeling well?"

Alfred just grinned at his brother as he walked further into the kitchen. "Perfectly fine bro." Alfred thought that this was the perfect time to ask his brother. "But I need your help with somethin'."

Matthew was a little apprehensive as to what his self proclaimed hero of a brother could possibly need his help with. "What is it Al?"

Alfred looked to Matthew with pleading eyes. "I need your help with Arthur."

"What? Are you insane? No Al, just no."

Alfred gave his best puppy dog pout to his brother, which he knew that his brother would have a hard time saying no to. "Please Mattie. I really like him and you work with him so you can put a good word in for me. Please Mattie, please help me out here bro. And if it works it'll mean that he'll stay at the restaurant."

Matthew just sighed in exasperation, giving into Alfred's puppy dog eyes. "Fine I'll see what I can do. But I make no promises Al."

Alfred hugged his brother as hard as he could. "Thanks bro you're the best."

"Vho's the best?"

Alfred let go of Matthew and the two looked to the doorway to the kitchen and saw Gilbert leaning against the door frame. "Mattie is. He's going to put in a good word for me with Arthur."

"Vhat? Mister grumpy and his huge ass eyebrows."

From the living room they could hear the sound of faint mumbling coming from the sleeping Brit. "I actually think that their kind of cute, especially on Arthur."

"Vhatever, but don't say zhat I didn't vorn you first."

"Whatever Gil. So Mattie what can I do to get Arthur to like me."

Matthew thought as he continued to work on the massive stack of pancakes, most of which would be devoured by his brother. "Hm well Arthur likes to drink tea; he always has some just before his shift starts. So you could run down to the nearby store and get some."

"Tea right. Is there any specific kind?"

"Just get something a person as snooty as Arthur vould drink."

"Get earl grey Al that should do it."

"Earl grey got." Alfred ran out the kitchen and started to head for the front door, only to be stopped by Gilbert almost shouting at him.

"Oy dumbass you might vant to get some proper clothes on."

Alfred quickly darted back to his and within five minutes he was heading straight out the door with a grin on his face.

Gilbert wrapped his arms around Matthew's waist and rested his head on his shoulder as the blond continued to make pancakes. "Your little bro can be quite a dummkopf at times."

"Yeah that is true, but he means well. I have to say that it's been sometime since I last saw Al act like this."

"Vhen vas that?" Gilbert asked as he wrapped his arms tighter around Matthew's waist and kissed his cheek.

"Hm I think that it was around High school when he last acted like this in order to get the attention of a new transfer student. It did eventually work. But things didn't last between the two of them. Al was devastated but was, after quite a large number of hamburgers and hours of video games he was able to get over him."

Alfred had made it to the store and was quick to search for the tea. It took some time and having to ask someone who worked in the store where they kept the tea, but he had finally found it and was now holding it in his hands with a grin plastered on his face and was standing in line to pay for the box. He was bouncing in the balls of his feet as he desperately waited for the line to move quickly. He looked to the front of the line to see who was holding up the line.

"Come on man hurry up. You got like five items there what's the hold up?"

It was another fifteen minutes before Alfred reached the front of the line. He paid for the box of tea and was quick to leave the store and head back to his apartment, hoping that he got back before Arthur woke up.

Alfred ran as fast as he could though the streets being careful to avoid everyone else walking by.

When he finally got to his apartment building he wasn't quite out of breath because Alfred went running every day, so he was used to running for even longer and further. Alfred walked into the building and quickly made it to the elevator just as someone was walking out of it.

Alfred leaned against the elevator and ran his left hand through his hair.

"I really hope that Mattie has made a lot of pancakes and oh some bacon would be awesome."

The elevator door soon opened again on his floor and Alfred walked towards his apartment, pulling out his keys from his jean pocket. He opened the door and was happy to see that Arthur was still asleep on the sofa. He grinned happily as he ran towards the kitchen. Unfortunately along his way to the kitchen he stubbed his foot on the sofa that Arthur was sleeping on; causing it to move ever so slightly.

"Son of a-" Alfred quickly covered his mouth as he heard Arthur string in his sleep. He breathed a sigh of relief as the Brit stayed asleep and continued to make his way to the kitchen hobbling slightly due to his now stubbed foot.

When he got into the kitchen he was greeted by the smell of the pancakes that Matthew had just finished making and the heavenly sent of bacon. Gilbert was sitting at the table with a cup of coffee; his eyes seemed to be focused of Matthew.

Matthew finished putting the food on the table as his brother walked into the kitchen. "Good timing Al foods ready."

"You get eyebrows tea?" Gilbert asked as he took another sip from his coffee.

Alfred smiled as he placed the box on the kitchen counter. "Sure did bro. Now how do you get into a drinkable version?"

Matthew sighed as he helped Alfred make the tea for Arthur, making sure that his brother was paying attention whilst doing it so that he could make it himself the next time.

"Ok Al that's how you make tea. Now do you remember how to make it?"

"Yes Matt, but I do have a question."

"What is it Al?"

"How does Arthur like his tea? You know like how I like my coffee with _a lot_ of sugar." Matthew and Gilbert both looked at each other. Both not knowing how to answer Alfred's question.

Matthew scratched the back of his neck as he tried to remember how Arthur always made his tea at work.

"I don't know just put a couple of sugars or something in it. I'm sure zhat eyebrows won't complain, too much." Gilbert waved his hand in the air as he told Alfred what to do.

Alfred did as Gilbert said and carried the tea out to Arthur. He placed the tea down on the coffee table in front of the sofa. He looked to Arthur and smiled.

 _"_ _Just so cute. Oh I hope that I can do everything right so that you'll like me to."_

Arthur's eye fluttered open as the smell of tea became prominent to him. He sat up from his make shift bed and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He looked blurring in the direction of where he could smell the tea coming from. "Is that tea?"

"Sure is dude. Hope it's to your liking. You know I wasn't too sure how you like it?"

Arthur looked to see that Alfred was smiling at him from the other sofa. He swung his legs over the sofa and sat up, moving the blanket off of him. He picked up the tea and brought it to his lips, letting the warm liquid slide down his throat.

Alfred sat on the edge of the sofa and watched as Arthur drank his tea, watching as his Adams apple bobbed up and down with the first few sips.

 _"_ _Damn it Alfred keep your cool, you can do this just . . . just take your time. Get to know him and vice versa or somethin'."_

Arthur placed the mug back down on the coffee table and looked to Alfred.

"Soooo how was it?"

"Perfect, just the way that I like it in fact. Thank you Alfred." Arthur gave Alfred a small smile as he relaxed into the sofa.

Alfred internally high fived himself at getting the tea right. _"Thank you Mattie and Gil."_

Matthew pocked his head out from the kitchen seeing that Arthur was now awake. "Arthur good timing breakfast is ready."

Alfred beamed as he ran into the kitchen almost knocking over Matthew. Arthur walked into the kitchen at a much slower pace than Alfred. He sat down at the table and was shocked at the amount of pancakes that were stacked in front of him. "Wow that is a lot of pancakes. Did you make them all Matthew?"

Matthew nodded with a smile as he sat down at the table. "Sure did Arthur. I make them every morning, most of them get eaten by Al though so don't worry about the amount."

Arthur sat stunned as Alfred helped himself to a large amount of the pancakes and practically the entire plate of bacon and started to devour the stack. Arthur looked at Matthew with complete shock. "I have never seen anyone eat so much. How . . . how is that even possible?"

"It's only a fraction of what he eats during the day. And as to how . . ." Matthew pushed up the bridge of his glasses. "well even I don't know the answer to that, he's always had an appetite like this. Now help yourself before he eats all of it."

Arthur picked up a couple of the pancakes and placed them on his plate, not even getting the chance to get some of the bacon before it was in Alfred's mouth.

After they had all finished eating and cleared the plates, Arthur had quickly retrieved his tea just before it got too cold to drink. He sat at the table with Alfred, Matthew and Gilbert as they talked.

"So Mattie, Gil you both got the afternoon shift today right?"

Matthew nodded his head. "Yeah we do. Arthur you're also working the afternoon today as well right?"

Arthur nodded his head in response as he set down his mug back down onto the table now empty of its contents. "Yes I do in fact. Wait . . . oh fuck." Arthur slammed his head down onto the table.

"What's the problem Arthur?" Matthew asked as he moved anything breakable out of Arthur's way.

Arthur lifted his head of the table just enough so that he wouldn't be mumbling. "My uniform is back at the hostel. And I just know that there is a very good chance that that damn frog will be there waiting for me." Arthur balled his hands in his hair, slamming his head back against the table again. "Ugh I can't deal with him, but I need my stuff. I can't keep wearing the same clothes for goodness knows how long."

Alfred looked at Arthur; he wanted to do something to help him.

 _"_ _Come on Al you can think of something. This is your chance, help Arthur and he might start to like me."_

Then an idea hit. He smiled as heroically as possible as he placed a hand on Arthur's shoulder. "Don't worry man I'll help ya get ya stuff, so will Mattie and Gil."

* * *

 **A/N: I kind of feel like I'm teasing Alfred with Arthur in this chapter. also sorry that it's been nearly two months since I last updated this one uni got busy as the year came to an end, but now I'm on summer break so I can write to my hearts content.**

 **and so begins Alfred's attempt(s) to get Arthur to like him. next time Francis will be back, oh boy.**

 **favs, follows and reviews are all welcomed, please let me know what you think of this so far.**

 **till next time gxgirl-93 out**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Matthew and Gilbert looked at Alfred, stunned by what he had just said to Arthur.

"A-Al what are you saying?"

Alfred still smiled as he looked at his brother. "Exactly what I mean bro. You, me and Gil are gonna go with Arthur to get his stuff back from the hostel that he's staying at."

Gilbert face palmed himself as he listened to Alfred speak. "Birdie I think zhat your bro has finally lost it. Zhere's no vay zhat zhis idea can vork."

"It will Gil trust me. I would go with Arthur but I'm sure that Frenchie will recognise me. So I need you and Mattie to come with. One of you can distract him and then the other can let me and Arthur know if he's making his way back of something." Alfred looked to Matthew and Gilbert. Both of them looked as if they weren't willing to help. "Come on guys; you work with Arthur so help me help him." Alfred quickly looked at Matthew, knowing that he would break easily and the fact that Matthew had promised him to help with Arthur earlier that morning. "Please Mattie."

Matthew sighed knowing that his brother wasn't going to give up too easily. "Fine Al, we'll help."

"Fine. But I vill not be zhe one zhat stands around looking like some sort of dummkopf got it."

Alfred beamed as he stood up from his chair. "Good then we're all in agreement. Then shall we go?"

"Al I think that we should clean up first before we go." Matthew got up from his seat, removing the now empty mugs and placed them in the sink with the plates from breakfast.

Gilbert got up as well and started to make his way out of the kitchen. "Birdie's right Al. I'm gonna take a shower."

"Oh Arthur." Matthew looked over his shoulder to Arthur who was now sitting upright. "There's a second bathroom just down the hall, past mine and Gil's room. You might want to get in there before Al does."

"Ok then. Thank you Matthew, but um I don't have any clothes to change into."

Matthew puts the plate in his hands to one side to dry and turned around to look at Arthur. "I think that I might have some clothes that might just fit you."

Matthew and Arthur left the kitchen heading to Matthew and Gilbert's room to get Arthur a change of clothes. Alfred was left standing in the kitchen completely lost in thought.

 _"_ _Oh God now I want to see Arthur wearing one of my shirts. Onside just slipping of his shoulders, being way to long for to be called s shirt on him. Shit I don't think I'm gonna make it."_ Alfred quickly shook his head as he tried to get the image of Arthur's small frame in one of his shirts.

* * *

It was over an hour and they were all ready to act out Alfred's crazy plan to get Arthur's stuff out of the hostel without Francis finding them.

When they left the apartment building Arthur led the group to the hostel that he had been staying at. All the way there he kept looking around just in case Francis was nearby.

It was only when they had rounded the last corner that they needed to pass when Arthur pushed them all back round the corner.

"Vhat zhe hell vas zhat for eyebrows?" Gilbert looked to Arthur with his eyebrows furrowed in frustration.

Arthur looked back round the corner and hissed at what he saw. "Francis, he's right there outside the hostel."

Alfred leaned over Arthur's shoulder and saw that Francis was indeed there and waiting for Arthur. He was soon joined by Matthew and Gilbert, who were both curious to see what Francis looked like. They saw that Francis was sitting on a small bench outside the hostel smoking a cigarette as he looked around obviously looking for a certain Brit. Alfred turned back to face his brother and Gilbert he tapped Arthur on his shoulder to get his attention with what he was about to say.

"Ok mattie, you or Gil is going to have to distract Frenchie for as long as possible, the other keeps an eye out for when they come back. Whilst me and Arthur go inside, get his stuff and get the heck out of there and back to the apartment."

"I already told you zhat I'm not standing around with nothing to do. And frankly after everything zhat I've heard I don't vant birdie anywhere near him."

"And how do you exactly plan on distracting him Gilbert?" Arthur asked folding his arms across his chest.

"Do not doubt meine awesomeness eyebrows. Now hand over those cigarettes."

Arthur reluctantly pulled out his cigarettes from his jean pocket and handed them over to Gilbert.

Gilbert opened the pack and pulled out one of the cigarettes and put the remaining into his jacket pocket.

Matthew looked to Gilbert with concern. "Gil you haven't smoked in five years. What are you doing?"

Gilbert placed a hand on Matthews head and ruffled his hair lightly. "Don't worry Birdie I'm just gonna use it as a way to start a conversation with him."

"Ok Gil but please be careful Gil. Let me know when you are no longer to distract him."

"I don't need to be careful; people need to be careful around meine awesomeness." Gilbert rounded the corner and headed towards Francis, holding the cigarette between his fingers.

When he got closer to Francis he made sure that he had his trademark cocky grin on his face.

Gilbert stood next to the sitting Francis ready to ask his question. "You got a light?"

Francis looked up at the person who had talked to him. He didn't hold any hopes that it was Arthur as he could tell that the person spoke with a German accent and not Arthur's trade mark British accent. What he saw when he looked up was a guy with short white hair and red eyes smiling at him, holding a cigarette between his fingers.

"Oh oui of course." Francis pulled out his lighter and handed it to the white haired man.

"Danke." Gilbert took the lighter from Francis and sat down next to him as he lit up his cigarette and then handed the lighter back to Francis.

Francis pocketed his lighter as soon as it was back in his hands and then continued to look around at his surroundings.

"You vaiting for someone? Are zhey inside?"

"Maybe. I'm not sure 'e could be inside or not. They won't let me past the sign in desk."

"Zhat sucks. You're from France right? Vhat are you doing all zhe vay out here?" Gilbert was carefully planning each question he asked Francis, hoping that he could say the right thing that would get him and Francis to leave.

"Oui I am from France. I'm here to get my lover, so that we can return to Paris and live happily together. And you mon ami, you are German non? Why are here?" Francis was curious about the German next to him.

Gilbert was happy, it seemed like his plan was working. "Ja I'm German. Vell zhe reason as to vhy I'm here is because five years ago I vas backpacking zhrough Canada when I met zhe man zhat I'm currently dating. Ah~ he's so cute, my precious little Birdie. You know he makes zhe best pancakes ever."

Francis scoffed at Gilbert's last statement. "Oh mon ami don't you know that we French make the best 'pancakes' or crepes as they are called."

Gilbert had to stop himself from grinning from ear to ear. "Nein, nein, nein. My Birdie makes zhe best in zhe whole vorld. No questions asked."

Francis had to stop himself from laughing. "Well then mon ami you have been poorly misinformed about that." Francis got up from where he was sitting and looked to Gilbert, stuubing out his long forgotten cigarette. "Why don't we go back to my hotel and I'll cook up some delicious French crepes and then you will know that French cuisine is the finest in the world."

 _"_ _Jackpot."_ Gilbert wanted to high-five himself, he had done it. "You are on I vill defend meine precious Birdie's honour by saying that his pancakes are better zhen your silly crepes."

Francis stuck out a hand to Gilbert. "Names Francis, Francis Bonnefoy."

Gilbert took Francis hand and shook it. "Meine awesome name is Gilbert Beilschmidt."

* * *

Alfred, Arthur and Matthew were all looking towards Gilbert and Francis, waiting for the moment that Gilbert could get Francis away from the hostel.

Arthur was getting frustrated as he continued to wait. "Bloody hell what is taking that stupid git so long?"

"Come on dude give Gil a chance. He has to have some sort idea of how to get Frenchie away from here, so just give him a moment."

"Al's right Arthur. Gilbert is a lot smarter than he looks. So I'm sure that he has an idea up his sleeve." Matthew confirmed what Alfred had just said with a smile on his face, remembering to the times when Gilbert shocked both him and Alfred by out smarting the brothers.

The trio continued to wait as they waited for Gilbert to act out whatever plan he had come up with.

As time passed Arthur was starting to get really impenitent just waiting around like an idiot. When they finally saw Gilbert get up from the bench and started to walk away with Francis right next to him they all breathed a sigh of relief and when they were sure that Gilbert and Francis where now gone, the trio finally walked around the corner.

Alfred smiled and looked to his brother. "Ok Mattie you stay outside and keep an eye out for them if they come back." Alfred quickly gestured to him and Arthur. "Me and Arthur will go inside and get his stuff. Will you be ok bro?"

Matthew smiled back to his brother. "Of course Al. Now go they might suddenly come back."

Alfred and Arthur quickly made their way inside the hostel where they headed straight for the front desk. Arthur walked up to the desk and tried to get the attention of the blond person behind the desk.

He cleared his throat as a way of getting the person to acknowledge him. "Yeah what?"

Arthur rolled his eyes in annoyance, only slightly glad that the person didn't have an American accent but an eastern European one. "I want to sign out."

The blond huffed and flicked his shoulder length hair. "Like whatever." He handed some papers to Arthur. "Here sign these lame forms and then like go and get your stuff or whatever."

Arthur quickly signed the forms and slides back across the desk. He walked towards the door that led to the sleeping areas. Just as he opened the door he looked over his shoulder to Alfred and motioned his head to him. Alfred took it as to say _follow me_.

Alfred walked behind Arthur as they made their way to where Arthur had been staying until recently.

They eventually made it to the small room that Arthur had been sharing. Arthur opened the door and face palmed himself at what he saw. "Bastards left the room in a state again. They even put their bloody stuff on my bed those bastards."

Alfred walked up next to Arthur and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Its ok dude you're not gonna stay here any longer so there's no need worry. Now let's pack up your stuff and go before Gil can no longer distract Frenchie."

Arthur nodded his head as he agreed with Alfred. "Ok. My bunk is the bottom one on the left. There's a rucksack underneath it, could you get that out whilst I separate my stuff from their junk?"

"A what?" Alfred looked to Arthur feeling a bit confused by what he said.

Arthur sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "A backpack Alfred, a backpack now please."

Alfred made his way over to the pointed out bed, he looked under the bed and saw that there was indeed a bag underneath it. Alfred looked up at Arthur who was standing next to him sorting out his few belongings.

"Is this the bag Arthur?"

Arthur looked out of the corner of his eye to the bag that Alfred was holding. "Yes that's it thank you Alfred."

Alfred placed the backpack on the bed and stood up next to Arthur. "So what should I do next?"

"If you could pack the stuff that I hand to you that would be great. I don't care how they are packed, I just want out of here." Arthur started handing Alfred his stuff and Alfred started to put them into the backpack, taking some care with the items of clothing.

As they were nearly finished packing Alfred's hand lightly brushed against Arthur's. Alfred quickly moved his hand away from Arthur's and tried to hide the fact that he was starting to blush. "S-Sorry about that dude."

"N-N-No that's ok Alfred. Um I think that's the last of it, now come on lets go." Arthur picked up the backpack and slung it over one of his shoulders and made for the door, with Alfred following not too long after. They both headed back to the front desk with Alfred walking behind Arthur, his hand still tingling from the earlier brief touch.

Once they made to the front desk they could see that Matthew was still standing outside. They made their way outside and Alfred instantly draped an arm around his brother's shoulder, causing Matthew to jump out of his skin.

"Yo bro calm down it's just me."

"Al you scared the life out of me. Have you and Arthur finished getting his stuff."

"Sure thing bro. Got his stuff and signed out."

Arthur walked up to the brothers and looked at Matthew adjusting the backpack on his shoulder. "Thank you for this Matthew. Not just giving up your morning off to help me, but also letting me stay with you till I can find something else."

"It's not a problem Arthur. Why don't we head back now, I'll text Gil saying that we're heading back."

The trio started to make their way back to the apartment building. Matthew had texted Gilbert, but he had yet to receive anything back from his boyfriend which left him worried for what could have happened to him.

When they got back to the apartment Arthur placed his backpack where it wouldn't get in the way of anyone else as they walked around the room.

They waited for any sign from Gilbert that he was ok and that he was on his way back. Matthew kept constantly checking his phone as he walked around the apartment trying to find anything to do that would occupy his mind as he waited. Alfred had started to play a video game but was finding hard to concentrate on it and soon turned the game off. He sat on one of the sofas with Arthur.

Over an hour had passed since they returned when the door to the apartment opened and Gilbert walked in groaning whilst holding his stomach.

Matthew ran over to Gilbert both glad to see that he was back but also worried as to what could have happened to him. "Oh my god, Gil are you ok?"

Gilbert collapsed into Matthew's arms. "Birdie I don't zhink I'm going to make it."

Alfred and Arthur rushed over to see what had happened; Alfred shut the door to the apartment whilst doing so.

"Gil what happened to you?" Matthew wrapped one of Gilbert's arms around his shoulder and half walked, half carried Gilbert over to the nearest sofa. Gilbert collapsed onto the sofa groaning.

"Gil tell me what happened." Matthew sat next to his boyfriend, concern written all over his face.

"I ate to~ many~ crepes~." Gilbert groaned as he rolled onto to his side.

"What do you mean Gil?"

Gilbert groaned as he tried to sit up on the sofa. "Francis said zhat his crepes were better zhan your pancakes and I defended you by saying nein. He just kept making more and more till he ran out of ingredients. Birdie do you still love me even zhough I'm not awesome right now."

Matthew laughed as he kissed Gilbert on the forehead. "How could I not love the man that defended my pancakes? And you will always be awesome in my eyes Gil."

"Dude did you seriously try to eat like I do? Don't you remember that the last time you did you ended up like this?"

"Ja, ja I know but it was the best way to distract him for long enough."

Arthur did his best to not laugh, but the sight before him was too much for him to handle and he nearly fell over backwards when he couldn't hold his laughter any longer. "Hahahaha this is just perfect hahahah the so called 'mister awesome' isn't as awesome as he claims to be hahahaha. My sides are going to split hahahahahaha. This is just brilliant, I got to get a picture of this no one will believe me otherwise."

Alfred tried his best to not laugh. But he couldn't help a snort escaping his throat. "Y-Ya got to admit it bro, b-but Arthur's right. Pffffftttt ahahahahahaha."

"Laugh at me now you two dummkopfs, but when I can move again you will regret laughing at me." Gilbert huffed as he crossed his arms.

Matthew placed one of his hands over Gilbert's. "It's ok Gil don't pay attention to them. Did you find out anything other than how much is too much too eat."

"Oh ja I did." Gilbert looked to Alfred and Arthur who were both still laughing. "Hey eyebrows you're going to vant to hear zhis. Francis knows vhere you vork and vhen."

* * *

 **A/N: when I said that I could write to my hearts content I wasn't lying. (if I got that bit about backpack and rucksacks wrong please do tell me, as I couldn't remember which one it is in America so I had to guess)**

 **oh my goodness I enjoyed writing that bit between Francis and Gilbert so much that I could've just kept going and we got some prucan fluff along with a brief look at how Matthew and Gilbert met each other. and I'm having real fun tormenting Alfred at the moment, I wonder how long I can keep it up before I give into the USUK lover in me, and let me tell you she's already thinking how to get them together in this story.**

 **also can you guess who was working at the front desk (I hope that I made it obvious enough)**

 **what's going to happen next now that they know when and where Arthur works, well you're just gonna~ have~ to~ wait~.**

 **favs, follows and reviews are all welcomed, please let me know what you think of this so far.**

 **till next time gxgirl-93 out**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Francis knows vhere you vork and vhen."

Just as quickly as Alfred and Arthur had started laughing they both stopped and looked at Gilbert.

Arthur's face paled as he thought about what Gilbert just said meant to him. _"Th-This means that F-Francis will be there at the restaurant later on waiting for me. No, no, no, no, no this isn't good. I . . . I have to get out of here right now."_

Arthur quickly made his way over to his bag, pushing past Alfred to do so. He picked up his bag and made his way out of the apartment and headed straight for the elevator.

Alfred was left speechless as Arthur walked quickly past him, grabbed his bag and exited the apartment. As soon as Arthur had walked through the door Alfred made his way after him.

"Arthur? Arthur wait. Arthur where are you doing dude?"

Arthur repeatedly pushed the button for the elevator as he waited. "What does it look like Alfred? I'm getting the hell out of here before that douchebag Francis finds me."

"What? But where are you gonna go dude?" Alfred was frantic; he didn't want Arthur to leave.

Just as Arthur was about to walk into the elevator Alfred grabbed his wrist. He pulled Arthur away from the elevator and tried to get the both of them back to the apartment but Arthur kept trying to get into the elevator. Alfred gave up; he pulled Arthur away from the elevator one last time and then threw the smaller blonde onto his shoulder and started to make his way back into the apartment.

At first Arthur was shocked by the sudden action but once he regained his senses he started to pound his fists into Alfred's back as he was carried back into the apartment.

"Alfred, put me down this instant! This is highly undignified! Put me down!" Arthur kept hitting Alfred's back as he was carried, making sure that every few hits to add a kick to the stomach in as well.

"Not until you calm down dude." Alfred continued to walk back into the apartment whilst feeling Arthur hitting and kicking him in the back and stomach.

 _"_ _I would much prefer it if it was his fingernails digging into my skin . . . but now ain't the time for that."_

As they made it back into the apartment the strength of Arthur's hits to Alfred's back had died down. Alfred shut the door to the apartment and as he stood in front of it he took Arthur off his shoulder and placed the smaller blonde back down in front of him.

"Ya calm down now dude?" Alfred raised an eyebrow at the scowling blonde now standing in front of him.

Arthur crossed his arms as he looked away from Alfred. He didn't want to admit it but he was slightly impressed that Alfred was able to withstand all of those hits. "Maybe. Now why did you stop me from leaving?"

"Cause running away ain't gonna solve this dude. We already out smarted Francis today, what makes you think that we can't again. And besides where would you have gone?" Alfred crossed his arms as he looked at Arthur and waited for his response.

"W-Well." Arthur scratched the back of his head as he thought of an answer on the spot. "I was thinking Michigan what I've heard about it makes it sound nice. And by the way Alfred I've been running away from my problems for most of my life, so why should I stop now?"

"Why? Because now you have people in your life that want you to stay around and if you do then we can help you. And Michigan, really? Dude its Fall and Michigan is going to be like freezing as the year gets on."

Arthur flinched slightly at what Alfred said. He didn't know that Michigan was going to get cold as winter would set in. And he was stunned by the fact that Alfred said that there were people that actually wanted him in their lives, he didn't want to believe him. His whole life people had made it a point to push him away and make sure that he wasn't in their lives.

Arthur looked at the floor, his face becoming downcast as his blonde hair covered part of his face. "No one wants me in their life."

Matthew walked over to Arthur and placed a hand on one of his shoulders. "That's not true Arthur. I count you as a good friend to me and you've really helped me out at the restaurant ever since you came here. And I know that Gil doesn't show it, but he wants you to stick around to. Him teasing you is his way of saying 'hey I want us to be friends'."

Arthur looked over to Gilbert who was still half laying, half sitting on the sofa.

Gilbert looked away from Arthur's gaze and nodded his head whilst pouting; not liking the fact the Matthew could read him like a book. "You're awesome. But not as awesome as me, you got zhat eyebrows."

Arthur smiled as he looked at the people who all wanted him in his life. "Ok then Alfred, what did you have planned this time?"

Alfred just grinned as he placed both of his hands on his hips. "The plan is simple. It will be similar to earlier today, but with the fact that I want be there."

"Oh that's right you have classes tonight Al." Matthew said as he looked to his brother.

Arthur was beyond confused at was being said between the two brothers. "Wait . . . what do mean by classes Matthew?"

"Al's in his last year of college. Didn't I tell you that before?"

"No I don't believe that you did Matthew." Arthur turned to Alfred. "So what are you studying then Alfred?"

"Oh I'm studying aeronautics, mainly focusing on flight and space travel."

Arthur was a little shocked by the severity of the subject of Alfred's studies and could feel a slight blush creeping across his face. "Oh . . . wow. I uh . . . I guess . . . what I mean is . . . that's good. So what's this plan of yours then?"

"Well like I said I can't be there, which means that it will mainly be Mattie and Gil that you'll be relying on." Alfred looked back and forth between his brother and Gilbert, making sure that they were both listening. "Ok well you two . . . are both going to have to act as look outs at the restaurant and if Frenchie does show up, make sure that Arthur hides. And we can't rule out the possibility that he won't start searching around the restaurant so Arthur you'll have to hide somewhere where he won't find you."

"Well at least that doesn't sound like _too_ ridiculous of a plan. But what if that bastard waits around outside? How am I supposed to get back with him following me?"

Alfred scratched his head in thought. Then an idea came to his mind and ran to his room but quickly returned with a couple of items in hand. "Arthur wear this on your way to the restaurant and on the way back wear it again and Mattie if you wear the other on the way back after your shifts end then it will confuse him on who is who."

Arthur and Matthew over looked what Alfred had handed them. Arthur raised an eyebrow at Alfred's plan. "A beanie hat? Seriously Alfred how is this supposed to work?"

"I have to agree with Arthur on this Al. This just doesn't seem like it's going to work, I mean there are differences between me and Arthur. For one my hairs longer and second there is a clear height difference between us."

"I know Mattie but please work with me on this. And the height difference isn't too noticeable."

"Pffftttt 'isn't too noticeable' try und zhink of something better Al. From here I can tell zhat Birdie is taller zhan eyebrows. And trust me I spent a good amount of time with Francis and he knows a scary amount about him und he will be able to tell the height difference between zhem." Gilbert rested his head on his hand as he looked at the trio whilst still lying on the sofa.

Alfred glared at Gilbert who was still quietly laughing. "Gil you aren't helping right now."

Gilbert only shrugged in response and laced his arms round the back of his head.

Alfred turned his attention back to Arthur and his brother and gave them both his best puppy dog pout. "Come on guys it's the only plan that we've got, just . . . just give it a try and if it doesn't work then . . . well we'll think of something else."

Matthew just sighed as he saw the pout that his brother gave him. "Fine Al I'll give it a try." Matthew looked at Arthur. "Arthur trust me when Al gives you that look it is not easy to say no to."

Arthur had to agree with what Matthew had just said to him. _"D-Damn it why can't I say no?"_

"O-Ok fine Alfred. But if this doesn't work then so help me you will regret it."

"Oooohhhhh eyebrow rage." All looks shot to Gilbert who was grinning from ear to ear.

Matthew face palmed and was about to tell Gilbert to shut up but was left stunned by Arthur's sudden reaction.

"I'LL FUCKING FILL YOU, YOU ALBINO BASTARD!" Arthur lunged for Gilbert, hands ready to grasp his neck.

Alfred was quick to wrap his arms around Arthur's waist to hold him back. "Dude Arthur calm down, he's just messing with ya man."

Arthur thrashed about in Alfred's arms, desperately trying to get out of his ridiculously strong grip. "I don't care! I've had enough of his constant mockery of my eyebrows!"

"Why do you even care about what he says Arthur?" Matthew stood in between Arthur and Gilbert, feeling the need to protect his at the moment idiotic boyfriend.

"I'll tell you why." Arthur calmed down a bit, but Alfred still kept his hold on Arthur. "Because . . . it's like being back with my so called family, and I don't want to go through that again."

Alfred felt his heart clench at what Arthur said and he couldn't stop his arms from tightening around Arthur's waist.

Arthur had quite obviously felt the arms around his waist tighten around him even more than they had previously and was doing all that he could to stop his blood rushing to his face. "Y-You can let go now Alfred. I-I'm not going to kill Gilbert now."

Alfred slowly loosened his hold on Arthur, all the while being cautious just in case Arthur suddenly leapt forward at Gilbert. When it became apparent that what Arthur had said was true Alfred removed his arms from Arthur's waist and nervously scratched the back of his neck as he caught a glimpse of Arthur's reddening face.

Once things had calmed down between the four of them, they had decided to watch some TV till it was time to act out there plan.

Arthur had decided to keep as much distance between him and Gilbert as possible. Matthew and Alfred had both decided to sit in between Arthur and Gilbert just in case they started fighting again.

As the afternoon progressed and it started to get closer to time; Arthur, Matthew and Gilbert had started to get ready to work their shifts at the restaurant whilst Alfred stayed seated on the sofa his eyes firmly glued onto his phone.

Arthur, Matthew and Gilbert had all eventually gathered at the door to the apartment all now ready to go.

Matthew quickly looked over to his brother who was still on his phone. "Al we're about to head off now. Make sure that you leave with enough time to get to class."

Alfred briefly took his eyes off his phone and looked to his brother. "Yeah, yeah Mattie don't worry I'll be there with time to spare. And it's also my turn to cook tonight, so there'll be some amazing food to eat when you get back."

Matthew gave one last sigh before he left the apartment with Arthur and Gilbert in tow.

Once Arthur had stepped a foot outside of the elevator he quickly pulled the beanie hat over his messy blonde hair, hoping that Alfred's ridiculous plan would somehow work even if it was just once.

It didn't take the trio long to reach the restaurant from the apartment complex, especially with Matthew leading the way. They arrived at the restaurant with time to spare; with their spare time that they had been given before their shifts started they added their own tweaks to Alfred's plan.

Gilbert went and told the rest of their co-workers to be on the lookout for Francis and gave a description of what he looked like. Matthew and Arthur had told their boss about the situation that Arthur was in and was more than happy to help out as best he could if the worst came to worst and Francis did come looking for Arthur and the staff couldn't get rid of him.

Arthur was thankful for all the support that he got from his boss and from his co-workers, it had actually pained him at the mere thought of possibly leaving the restaurant, the city and even the State just to get away from Francis.

 _"_ _If they're all willing to go this far to . . . to help me. Then . . . then how could I even think about leaving here. Ha I guess Alfred was right there are people that will help me if I stick around."_

The afternoon had actually gone quite well for Arthur and the others at the restaurant. That was until just over half way through the shift and Arthur was in the kitchen retrieving an order for a table when Gilbert's head poked into the kitchen and frantically looked around the bustling kitchen. When he saw Arthur he quickly walked over to him being careful of the other waiting staff moving around.

Arthur saw Gilbert walking towards him. "Gilbert what's wron-" He didn't get the chance to finish his question when Gilbert took the plates from Arthur's hands.

"Francis is here, he's just outside the restaurant. Und you need to hide right now, me und the others will take care of him."

At mere mentioning of Francis being outside filled Arthur with dread. He ran from the kitchen as quickly as he could and made his way to the staff break room, which everyone had agreed would be the default hiding spot for Arthur.

As soon as Gilbert had re-entered the dining area Francis had entered as well and had spotted Gilbert within seconds.

"Ah mon ami it's good to see you again. Why didn't you tell me that you work here?"

Gilbert did his best to act shocked at Francis turning up. "Yo Francis good to see again too, und sorry it must have slipped my mind."

Francis walked up to his friend with a smile on his face, clearly not noticing the looks he was getting from the rest of the staff. "Oh worry not mon ami you might be able to actually help moi. Remember the person that I told you about earlier?"

Gilbert nodded his head still playing the fool. "Ja so?"

Francis rested an arm on Gilbert's shoulder. "Well seeing you work here you can help me look for him."

Gilbert looked up at the ceiling pretending to be thinking. "Hmmmmm . . . sorry Francis but zhere isn't anyone here zhat vorks here zhat fits his description. Maybe he vorks a different shift pattern zhan zhe one you thought he did." Gilbert shrugged his shoulders as he gave his response to Francis.

Francis' arm retreaded from Gilbert's shoulder as the shock of what was said hit him. "Quoi? But that can't be possible, he has to be here your just joking with me mon ami."

Gilbert gave another shrug of his shoulders. "Sorry Francis but I'm not. Now if you vould excuse me I have to get zhese to zhere table."

Gilbert left Francis standing in the middle of the restaurant stunned. "No he has to be here I know it."

Francis started to walk around the restaurant frantically looking for Arthur. He got close to the staff break room when some of the staff walked out, effectively blocking Francis from entering the room. He had tried to get passed them but they wouldn't allow that to happen, knowing full well who he was and that Arthur was hiding in the room behind them. Their commotion was starring to get louder to the point where the boss had to step in.

He stepped in between Francis and the door to the break room, his arms firmly crossed against his chest. "This room is for staff only and I know that you don't work here so please leave you are causing a commotion that will disturb my customers."

Francis tried to get past the boss, but failed as he was still denied access to the room. He gave a sigh in defeat and made his back out of the restaurant.

Matthew saw Francis leave and headed to where he just came from. He walked into the break room but couldn't see any sign of Arthur.

"Arthur? Arthur are you in here?" That's when Matthew heard the sound of something moving around in one of the lockers. He walked over to the locker and opened it, surprised to see that Arthur had crammed himself inside the narrow locker and was now trying to get himself out of it.

"Arthur how did you get yourself in there?" Matthew gave Arthur a helping hand to get out of the locker.

With one good tug Arthur was free from the locker. "Don't ask. I heard Francis outside and panicked. I'm guessing that he's gone now?"

Matthew nodded his head in response to Arthur's question, seeing him visibly relax.

The rest of their shift passed by with relative ease for everyone. Although everyone kept an eye out for Francis in case he came back inside.

When their shift had ended and the restaurant had closed it was time to act out the second half of Alfred's plan. Arthur and Matthew both put on the beanie hats and where about to walk out when Matthew stopped them.

"Arthur you go with Gil. I'll act as decoy."

"Vhat? No Birdie you can't do zhat."

"I'll be fine Gil I promise. I know these streets better than Francis so I can get away if he follows. And Gil make sure that you act as if Arthur is me."

Gilbert gave a reluctant nod as he draped an arm around Arthur's shoulders. They left the restaurant together; both could tell that Francis was looking them. Gilbert did the only thing he could to throw him off their scents.

"Oh Birdie it was so awesome for you to come und meet me after work." He gave Arthur's shoulders a squeeze just to prove his point.

They got back to the apartment complex without being followed. They waited by the elevator for Matthew to get back.

When Matthew made it in he was out of breath. They made it into the elevator as quickly as they could, where all three relaxed.

As they walked back into the apartment they could smell the food that Alfred had cooked for the four of them. They all sat down and ate the food that had made for them and told Alfred what happened at the restaurant that afternoon and Alfred and Gilbert both burst out laughing when Matthew told them that Arthur had somehow got himself inside one of the lockers and then needed help in order to get out of it. Throughout the laughter Arthur just wanted to ground to swallow him up whole, it wasn't one of his more dignified moments and would be more than happy to forget it ever happened, but with Gilbert around he was sure that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. After they had finished eating Alfred couldn't stop talking about his class and how his Professor was able to take an exciting subject and make it the most boring thing on earth.

They soon found themselves in front of the TV again, just wasting the time till they all got tired. And after the events of the day that didn't take long. Matthew and Gilbert were the first to leave, once again leaving Alfred and Arthur alone.

Alfred scratched the back of his head as he tried to think of something to say. "So . . . um . . . i-if you want you can . . . I don't know sleep in . . . my bed tonight and I'll take the sofa."

Arthur looked at Alfred clearly noticing the blush on his face and could feel his own face warming up and his heart beating faster just looking at him. "Ah . . . no it's fine. You're a student and should get some proper rest at night."

"O-Ok then." Alfred got up from where he was sitting and retrieved the pillows and blankets for Arthur. "W-Well then g-good night Arthur."

"Good night Alfred." Arthur switched off the TV as Alfred switched off the lights and locked the door to the apartment for the night and then retreat to his own room.

Arthur set up the pillows and blankets, kicked off his shoes and took off his jacket and laid down on his makeshift bed. But sleep didn't come easily to him. His mind was racing with only one thing on his mind, Alfred, he couldn't stop thinking all the time that they had gotten close that day and how his hand tingled where his hand touched Alfred's.

 _"_ _Oh calm down Arthur it was nothing . . . you just simply brushed hands with an incredibly hot guy that's all, nothing more nothing less. He's probably not even interested anyway. Now stop thinking about it and get some sleep."_

* * *

 **A/N: wow, just wow that was a very long chapter. sorry if it felt a bit rushed at the end I wanted this to be under 4,000 words (and just able to).**

 **the reason as to Alfred's college course, simple the Wright brothers and NASA were my inspiration.**

 **ohhhh~ what's this does Arthur like Alfred? but thinks that Alfred's not interested, oh if only he knew what I have planned. but I will say this, Arthur will deny any and all feelings that he has towards Alfred for as long as possible.**

 **favs, follows and reviews are all welcomed, please let me know what you think of this so far.**

 **till next time gxgirl-93 out**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The next morning had gone like been just the previous one. Matthew made pancakes, Arthur awoke to the smell of tea and the sight of Alfred's smiling face which caused Arthur to blush beyond his control, Gilbert was snarky and didn't think before speaking, Alfred ate a large amount of the pancakes and bacon that Matthew had cooked up. But there was one difference on this morning. Arthur couldn't bring himself to look at Alfred, he was doing everything that he could to deny any possible feelings that he had for the taller blonde.

Matthew had been the one to notice that Arthur was acting differently to how he normally behaved. He thought that Arthur was still embarrassed from the whole getting himself stuck in a locker thing.

With Arthur feeling awkward breakfast passed in relative silence, well as much silence as to be expected with Alfred _and_ Gilbert in the same room as each other.

When all the plates had been cleared Arthur was the first of the four to make it to one of the two showers. He was quick to switch the shower to cold to help himself cool down.

 _"_ _Damn that Alfred and his stupid ass smile. Why does he have to look so perfect? Damn him. Damn him."_ Arthur stepped into the shower the cold water was a welcome wave to his system.

* * *

Back in the kitchen Alfred and Matthew were both finishing off their coffees as they waited for either Gilbert or Arthur to finish in the shower first.

"Hey Matt." Alfred was the first of the two brothers to break the silence of the kitchen. "Did Arthur seem a bit off this mornin'?"

Matthew put his cup down as he looked to his brother. He had defiantly noticed that something was up with Arthur that very morning. "Hmmm I did seem to notice that he was acting a bit different to how he normally does. But I guess he might still be embarrassed about what happened yesterday at work, you know the whole locker situation."

Alfred tried his best to not laugh as he remembered being told the story the previous night. _"Oh man that was so funny I wish I could have seen that myself. But then Arthur would probably hate my guts if I saw him like then start laughing my ass off, and if I want him to like me that would probably not be the best way to go about it."_

"So what do ya think bothering him bro?" Alfred did his best to get his train of thought away from the mental image of Arthur stuck in a locker and back on the situation at hand.

"vhat bothering vho?" Gilbert asked as he walked into the kitchen.

Matthew was glad that Gilbert hadn't walked into the kitchen without a towel around his waist like he normally would do. This time he was actually dressed and was drying his hair with a towel. "We were talking about Arthur. He was acting a bit strange this morning."

"Really? He seemed like normal eyebrows to me." Gilbert sat back down at the table with the two blondes.

"Gil ya really gotta stop calling him that. I'm not sure I'll be able to hold Arthur back again if he heard ya call him that." Alfred said as he rested his head on the back of his hand.

Gilbert flinched slightly at Alfred's words and the memory of Arthur's frantic actions. "Y-You don't mean zhat do you Al? Cause zhat would be really unawesome of you to do zhat."

"I don't know Gil he might look small but there definitely was some strength there."

"Speaking about Arthur, where is he? Didn't he get into the other shower before you Gil?" Matthew asked as he started to get worried about the third blonde.

"Ja he did. I thought zhat he was already out." Gilbert didn't pick on the slight concern in Matthew's voice.

Alfred quickly finished off his coffee and got up from his seat. "I'll go and quickly check on. You know make sure that he's ok."

And with that Alfred left the kitchen leaving Matthew and Gilbert alone.

Matthew and Gilbert both looked at each other as Alfred quickly left the kitchen. Matthew looked at Gilbert about to ask his boyfriend a question but was cut off by Gilbert and his cocky grin.

"Like vhat you see birdie?"

Matthew's face turned bright red at Gilbert's question. "N-No that's not it G-Gil. I-I was actually surprised to see that you didn't walk in here dressed in just a towel like you normally do."

Gilbert sat back in his seat with his arms crossed. "Vell believe it or not I can actually behave at times. Und I really not be on the other end of eye-Arthur's rage again. Last night vas a close enough call." Gilbert looked away from Matthew for a brief second looking back at him whilst making sure to look as sexy as possible. "Do you prefer me with my clothes off zhen?"

Matthew's face turned as red as his favourite red hoddie that he was wearing that morning. He found that it became difficult to say anything as he would have said yes to Gilbert's question.

Gilbert knew what Matthew's response meant and could only laugh. "Kesesesesesese." He then got up from his seat and walked over to Matthew and leaned down so that his mouth was next to the blonde's ear and whispered to him. "How about later tonight I take zhem off und zhen I take off yours birdie?"

Matthew didn't think that it was possible for his face to heat up more than it was already. He nodded his head finding that words failed him at this point in time.

* * *

Arthur hadn't realised how long that he had been in the shower for. His mind was still clouded from the events of the previous night.

 _"_ _Why the bloody hell can't I stop thinking about Alfred and that goddamn smile of his. Damn it, damn it. Come on Arthur stop thinking about him. Stop thinking about him, stop thinking about him and that . . . that . . . argh damn it why does he have to look so perfect. Just . . . just everything about him looks so perfect. Perfect smile, perfect body. Just damn it. He's probably not interested in guys especially one as fucked up as me. He probably has plenty of girls throwing themselves at him and doesn't need me doing the same."_ Arthur fisted his hands in his wet hair as his thoughts continued about one thing and one thing only, Alfred.

Arthur stayed in the shower for a bit longer not noticing the sound of someone knocking at the door of the bathroom. When he finally turned off and stepped out from the shower to grab a towel what he didn't expect to see was Alfred. Arthur couldn't believe it he felt embarrassed and his entire body turn red.

Arthur soon found a voice to use. "G-Ge-Get the bloody hell out!"

Alfred even though stunned quickly left the bathroom, closing the door behind him. He felt his blood rush to his face and one other location. He quickly made his way to his room to take care of the problem that was developing; all the while he couldn't get what he saw out of his head. As Alfred got to his room he made sure to lock the door behind him, he then took of his glasses and rubbed his eyes.

"Well that was a treat for the eyes. Boy am I glad that class today isn't for a good couple of hours."

Arthur was cowering in the bathroom with only a towel to shield him, too embarrassed about what just happened to move let alone leave the room. _"Stupid git you forgot to put the lock on the door. Oh bloody hell what am I going to do now? How am I even going to be able to look at him let alone be in the same room as him?"_

Eventually Arthur crawled to the other side of the bathroom and picked up the clothes that he had brought with him. He quickly got dressed with shaky hands which made it difficult to do up his jeans. Before he left the bathroom Arthur quickly checked his appearance in the bathroom mirror in the vain attempt to tame his hair.

When it became apparent that his hair just wasn't playing along as it always did Arthur gave a quick sigh before he finally left the bathroom. Arthur opened the door and pocked his head out the door. He wasn't sure if he should have been happy or sad that Alfred was nowhere to be seen.

 _"_ _Wait what am I bloody thinking, I don't want to see him after what just happened."_

Arthur then quickly made his way back to the living room and slipped on his shoes before a very red faced Matthew and a grinning Gilbert walked out of the kitchen.

"Arthur is everything ok we heard shouting?" Matthew asked as he could only guess what his brother had done this time to upset Arthur.

After getting his shoes on Arthur picked up his jacket and dug through the pockets till he found his cigarettes. "Nothing's happened Matthew. I'm just going out for a smoke I shouldn't be too long." And with that Arthur left the apartment.

"Vell . . . that was a bit odd." Gilbert said as he scratched the back of his neck.

Matthew was quick to make his way to his brother's room to get his end of the story. Gilbert could only watch as his boyfriend walked off without saying a thing to him. He followed after him wondering what was going through his head. "Vait birdie vhere are you going?"

"To Alfred's room. If Arthur won't say anything then I'll make Alfred tell me. And if he doesn't say anything well let's just say things might turn out the same way as when my favourite hockey team loses a match."

Gilbert stopped in his tracks as the memories of the last time that happened; he and Alfred had since then made the decision to not be in the apartment when there was a hockey match on just in case Matthew's team lost again.

Matthew had reached the door to Alfred's room; he reached for the door handle only to find that the door was locked. Matthew started to bang his fist on the door. "Alfred!" there was no reply from the other side of the door, but Matthew persisted to bang his fist on the door. "Alfred open this door right now or I swear I will go post hockey game on your ass."

That had gotten the response from Alfred that Matthew wanted. "Ju-Just a moment bro. Don't go post hockey game, don't go post hockey game."

It didn't take long for the lock on the other side of the door to click letting Matthew know that the door was now unlocked. Matthew opened the door and entered his brother's room. He saw that his brother was sitting on the edge of his bed, hugging a pillow and looking away from his brother.

"Al what happened when you went to check on Arthur? He won't tell us anything so that only leaves you. What did you do that would mean he would shout at you?"

Alfred hugged the pillow tighter to his body and continued to look away from his brother, hoping that Matthew didn't notice how red his face was. "I-I-I can't say."

"Alfred Fredrick Jones! Tell me now!"

Alfred flinched as Matthew used his full name. _"Oh no he used my full name. I'm in big trouble now."_

But Alfred decided to not tell Matthew what had happened, he already felt as if he was already on thin ice with Arthur and he didn't want to make things more difficult to get Arthur to like him. "I can't and I won't tell you bro even if you use my full name I won't tell you and that's final."

Matthew was about to say something but he suddenly felt a pair of arms wrap around his waist and start to pull him out from the room. He looked over his shoulder to see what Gilbert was doing. "G-Gil what are you-"

"Come on now birdie if he doesn't vant to say zhan he doesn't vant to say."

"What Gil no. Let me go." Matthew started to struggle against Gilbert's hold on him.

Gilbert just smiled as he continued to pull Matthew out of the room. "Nein. Yo Al your bro und me don't have work today so ve're going to spend the day on a date. Don't burn down the building whilst ve're out ja."

Alfred just watched as Gilbert pulled his brother out from his room. He was thankful for Gilbert's help for getting Matthew off his case about what happened earlier. Alfred let out a sigh and fell backwards onto his bed and stared at the ceiling as he thought. _"I really want Arthur to like me . . . but after what happened earlier he might just hate me ugh damn it but . . . but . . . I did like what I saw. I just wish that it could have been in a different situation to what actually happened. Maybe there's some way I can make it up to him besides the whole not telling Mattie what happened thing."_

Alfred was so lost in thought that he hadn't notice the time. When he did eventually check to see what the time was on his phone he sprang up from his bed. "Shit! I'm gonna be late for class." He quickly picked up his backpack and ran from his room.

Arthur made it back into the apartment just as Alfred came running from his room. Both stopped in their tracks as they saw the other. They both quickly looked away from each other as they both felt their faces warm up from embarrassment not knowing what to say to the other.

Alfred was the first to break the silence between the two of them. He cleared his throat with a quick cough, all the while he couldn't look Arthur in the eye. "I-I'm heading off to class for a bit. Gil and Mattie are spending the day together on a date as they don't have any shifts today. So . . . you'll be the only one here for the time being."

Arthur at this point didn't trust his own voice so he only nodded his head as a sign that he understood what Alfred had said to him. He then went to walk further into the apartment but Alfred stopped by continuing to speak.

"About what happened earlier." Alfred started to scratch the back of his neck as he tried to get the words in his head to come out of his mouth in just the right way.

"Let's just forget about and _never_ speak about it again." Arthur started to head towards the kitchen, feeling the need for another cup of tea to help calm him down. Just as he walked past Alfred he stopped in his tracks and half looked over his shoulder at the taller blonde. "Didn't you say that you had class to get to?"

Alfred stopped scratching the back of his neck as what Arthur said sank in. "Oh crap! I'm gonna be late!"

Arthur didn't need to look as he could tell that Alfred ran as fast as possible out of the apartment and the door closing behind him.

Once Arthur was in the kitchen and waiting for the kettle to boil so he could have some more tea he looks out the small window located just above the kitchen sink just in time to see Alfred run out of the building and down the street, to where Arthur was guessing was his university. As Alfred ran Arthur couldn't help but look at Alfred's ass in jeans that didn't leave much to a person's imagination.

Arthur soon noticed what he was doing and quickly shook his head and turned his attention back to the now boiled kettle.

 _"_ _What the bloody hell am I thinking? There is no way that I'm interested in Alfred and I'm sure that he isn't interested in me. Now stop thinking about that and start thinking about how to deal with that bloody frog without moving to a different state."_ Arthur poured the hot water from the kettle into a mug and let the tea steep in the hot water. As he waited Arthur couldn't help but look out the window again and in the direction that Alfred had run off in. A part of him was hoping that Alfred would come back at any moment look up at him and smile that wonderful smile at him, but he quickly dismissed that thought and turned his attention back to his freshly brewed tea. Taking a sip of the tea he felt himself relax and change his thoughts even if it was for a brief moment.

What Arthur hadn't seen from the window was that across the street another pair of blue eyes was directly looking at him. "Ohonhohon I found you mon petite lapin."

* * *

 **A/N: and that's where i'm gonna leave it for now.**

 **I forgot to say this last time but I did actually check that Michigan does get cold at about autumn (not going through the whole backpack/rucksack problem ever again).**

 **during the bit between Gilbert and Matthew I just couldn't stop giggling. oh and I wasn't kidding about Arthur denying his feeling for Alfred and it will only continue.**

 **oh no Francis has found Arthur what will happen next? well i'm not gonna say.**

 **favs, follows and reviews are all welcomed, please let me know what you think of this so far.**

 **till next time gxgirl-93 out**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Wrapped up in a warm coat to protect him from the cold brash wind Francis was looking at Arthur from across the street.

As he watched Arthur from afar Francis could help but feel as if their current situation was like Romeo and Juliet. But instead of Arthur running away from him he would leap from the window Francis's arms ready to catch him, and they would run away back to Paris and live happily together.

"Ah~ but that is only a dream right now. Do not worry mon petite lapin for that day will come soon that I promise you."

Francis stayed watching Arthur till he could no longer be seen from the kitchen window. When it became apparent to him that Arthur wasn't going to be in the kitchen again for some time Francis walked away and headed back for his hotel room to think of the best way to win over his loves heart; all the while he could get the image of his Arthur looking in the direction that the blonde boy with glasses went running off to.

"Arthur loves me he just doesn't realise it yet. He will be mine."

* * *

Arthur sat down with his tea as he thought about what he could do with his day off. Matthew and Gilbert were spending the day together, so he would just be a third wheel for the couple and that they had already left and Arthur had no idea where they went. And Alfred had classes to attend to and he didn't know when he would be back.

"Seems like I'll be by myself today then. I don't think that I want to go outside in case I run into that stupid frog again. Damn it why can't he just leave me alone and bugger off back to France by himself."

By the time that Arthur had finished his tea he still hadn't thought about what he could do till someone got back. Eventually he decided to watch some TV in order to kill sometime and his boredom.

Unfortunately all that Arthur could find was one talk show after another.

 _"_ _Oh god I don't think I can take this much longer. What the bloody hell is the time already."_ Arthur then picked up his phone to look at the time, but just groaned as he saw what the time was. _"Urg it's not even midday yet. This day is just going to drag on and on I can tell. I need another smoke."_

Arthur then left the apartment with his cigarettes and the spare keys left behind in hand and headed to the balcony. He locked the door to the apartment and pocketed the keys and then made his way down the hallway.

When he got to the balcony he was quick to light up a cigarette. As Arthur stood on the balcony he leaned on the railing and couldn't help but think how his life was turning out.

"If it wasn't for the whole frog stalking me I guess things wouldn't be too bad. Alfred and Matthew are really good to me, helping out with all the shit that's happening and well I guess Gilbert's ok, annoying as hell, but ok. I really feel as if I should do something for them to say thanks." Arthur thought for a moment as he finished off is cigarette. "I know what I can do, I'll cook dinner tonight."

Arthur then quickly ran back into the apartment and headed straight for the kitchen to see what he could make.

As Arthur rampaged through the kitchen he thought of all the recipes that he had learnt from his mother when he was younger. It didn't take long for Arthur to think of the perfect thing to make, but found that he didn't have the ingredients necessary to make it so he ran out from the apartment, wallet and keys in hand.

* * *

Alfred had just finished his first class of the day and was looking forward to the fact that he could now eat some lunch. As he walked out of the lecture room he walked over to where he planned on meeting a friend.

When he got to the meeting place he saw his friend just ahead of him. Alfred quickly closed to distance between the two of them and then hugged his friend.

"Hey Kiku how you doing bud?"

"Ah Alfred-san hello. I am doing fine, you seem happier than normal today."

"Hahahahaha do I?" Alfred let Kiku go from his hug as they continued to walk.

"Hai you do. I'm guessing that things are going ok between you and that guy you told me about."

"Ah about that things are . . . well they're still the same. I don't even know if he likes me like how I like him. I mean I've told ya how much I like him Kiku; I just need to know if he likes me back. Ah man why does this have to be so damn hard."

"Fear not Alfred-san I'm sure things will work out for you. Just take your time to get to know this Arthur and I'm sure that you'll find out in no time if he does like you or not."

"I hope that you're right bro. Hey ya want to get some lunch now I'm starved." Alfred ran a head of Kiku.

 _"_ _Huhuhu typical Alfred-san easily distracted by the thought of food."_ Kiku did his best to keep up with Alfred's fast pace. "Hai Alfred-san I believe that there are some burgers on today's campus menu."

"Ya not joking man. Oh yeah I'm gonna to eat so many burgers."

Kiku could only laugh at his friend's enthusiastic behaviour. _"All the best of luck to you Alfred-san. From what you've told me I think that you are going to need it."_

* * *

Arthur stumbled back into the apartment carrying a bag of ingredients that he needed to make dinner for all four of them. He stumbled further into the apartment dropping the keys somewhere on the floor as he headed towards the kitchen, he tried to pick them up but Arthur ended up nearly dropping the bag on the floor so he decided to leave them there for the time being.

When Arthur finally made it to the kitchen he was quick to place the bag down on the kitchen counter and was relieved to finally have the heavy bag out of his arms.

"Phew that was heavier than I thought it was going to be, it also didn't help that I got lost trying to find the damned store. Now let's see did I get everything that I need?" Arthur started going through the bag checking the contents and then double checking the contents before putting anything that needed to be kept cold into the fridge so that it wouldn't go off before it was needed.

When he was done Arthur made himself another cup of tea and sat down in front of the TV, this time hoping that there was something other than talk shows on. He was this time able to find something to watch that was too his liking. After a while Arthur pulled out his phone and went to look up the recipe for what he was going to cook for Alfred, Matthew and Gilbert, to make sure that he could remember exactly how to make the dish.

After about the middle of the afternoon the door to the apartment opened and Alfred walked in looking very tired. He threw his backpack to one side of the room and then collapsed onto the sofa next to Arthur. The tension from the events that happened earlier that day seemed to disappear between the two blonds.

"Oh man I didn't think it was possible to be this exhausted after just a couple of classes."

Arthur could tell that just by looking at Alfred just how exhausted he looked, especially compared to the morning when he was so fall of energy. He decided to help the young American out, as Alfred has done a lot for him. "Is there anything that you want to drink or eat? I can go and get it for you."

"Really? Oh man thanks, some coffee would be awesome right now."

Arthur got up from where he was sitting and headed into the kitchen to make the drink for Alfred. He wasn't fond of coffee all together, always been more of a tea person but that didn't mean that thanks to all of his jobs over the past five years that he didn't know how to make a really good cup of coffee. As the water was boiling he poked his head out of the kitchen and asked how he liked his coffee.

"Alfred how do you like your coffee?"

"No milk, four sugars please."

Arthur went back into the kitchen to make the coffee how Alfred liked it. Within the next couple of minutes Arthur left the kitchen with a mug of coffee in his hands. He handed it to Alfred and sat back down on the sofa sitting just that little bit closer to the taller blond.

Alfred accepted the hot drink and happily started to drink it. He was only able to take one sip of it before he looked back at Arthur looking shocked. "This is the best coffee I've ever had. How did you make it taste so good?"

"When I was in Spain I worked in a coffee shop. The owner was very good at making coffee even if it was just from instant, and he taught me how to do the same." Arthur was trying his best to not look too smug as he gave his response.

"Wow dude that's so cool. You're so cool Arthur."

Arthur had to look away from Alfred to hide his quickly reddening face. "S-So any idea as to when Matthew and Gilbert will be getting back?"

Alfred took another sip of the coffee and gave his shoulders a quick shrug before answering Arthur's question. He could just about see that Arthur's face was red. "Hmmm not sure, it kinda depends on when they finish doing whatever it is that they are doing. I hope that they get back soon it's Mattie's turn to cook tonight."

Arthur looked back to Alfred smiling his face still a little red. "Actually . . . I was hoping that I could cook tonight, as my way of saying thanks for everything that you've done for me."

Alfred placed his coffee on the coffee table in front of him. "Nah man you don't have to do that."

"I want to Alfred. After everything that you, Matthew and Gilbert have done for me it's the least that I can do. I actually dread to think what could have happened if you didn't step in when you did when that frog found me. Thank you Alfred to me you really are a hero." Arthur smiled gently at Alfred.

Now it was Alfred's turn to blush. He wanted to say something back but found that his mind started to fail him at Arthur's smile that was meant for him and only him. Alfred started to lean in closer to Arthur, slowly closing the gap between them; but he quickly pulled away when the door to the apartment opened and Matthew and Gilbert walked in.

Matthew and Gilbert walked into the apartment with Gilbert's arm draped around Matthew's shoulders. Both of them had a happy smile on their faces, as they continued walking into the apartment they hadn't noticed Alfred and Arthur sitting not too far away. Gilbert was whispering something in Matthew's ear that caused the blond to blush as red as his hoddie once again.

Alfred watched as his brother and his boyfriend walk into the apartment acting both so lovey dovey with each other to the point that he felt a pang of jealously towards them. "Oh get a room you two." Alfred looked away from the couple and went back to his coffee.

"Oh don't vorry about zhat we plan to later on." Gilbert moved his hand from Matthew's shoulder and placed it on the blonds' backside and gave it a non discreet squeeze that caused the other to squeak a little at the sudden action.

"Sorry that we're a bit late back Al, I'll get started on dinner in a bit."

"Oh there's no need for that Matthew I'll cook tonight. I already went out earlier and got everything that I need to make dinner."

Both Matthew and Gilbert were both shocked by the Brits sudden voluntary action. "Well if you want to Arthur then I'm ok with that. If you need any help with anything then feel free to ask."

It wasn't long till Arthur was in the kitchen preparing the meal that wanted to make for the others. But he wasn't known to be the best in the kitchen; having been going from one place to another for five years never really gave Arthur a chance to cook in a proper kitchen so this was a challenge to the Brit and being the stubborn person that he was he wasn't going to give up too easily.

Alfred, Matthew and Gilbert could only sit and listen to the sounds that were coming from the kitchen as Arthur cooked. They all felt concerned every time that they heard Arthur swear or when something obviously crashed to the floor.

About an hour later Arthur finally poked his head out the kitchen and smiled at the trio. "Dinner's ready."

The trio then walked into the kitchen and were greeted by the site of the meal that Arthur had prepared for them. They sat down in their seats and looked at the food as if it was alien to them.

Matthew was curious as to what it was and so he decided to ask. "So what is it that you made Arthur?"

Arthur sat down to join the others with a proud smile on his face. "It's a British classic known as 'Toad in the hole'. Not actual toad though it's sausages cooked in a batter."

Alfred was the first one to taste the food that Arthur had cooked for them. "Wow Arthur this tastes amazing."

After that Matthew and Gilbert also tasted their meal and they had to agree with Alfred that it did taste amazing.

Arthur had trouble hiding the fact that his face had turned a prominent shade of red which Alfred found to absolutely adorable on the Brit.

Once they had finished their food Matthew had insisted that he help Arthur with the clean up since it was meant to be his turn to cook that night. After the cleaning up was done for the day, the day went by as the others had gone with only the slightest of changes, Gilbert grinned as he had dragged Matthew off by the waist and headed towards their bedroom for the night as soon as he stepped out of the kitchen.

Arthur settled down on one of the sofas next to Alfred. Both of them were quite happy sitting next to each other.

Things were peaceful until the two of them heard what was going on in Matthew and Gilbert's room. Alfred and Arthur both turned a very noticeable shade of red each as the sounds continued and they both looked away from each other not knowing what to say to the other in this situation.

Alfred gave a quick cough to clear his throat and get Arthur's attention. He nervously scratched the back of his neck as he went to speak. "Yeah . . . ah sorry about . . . that. I probably should have given you a heads up about that."

"N-No it's fine. They are a couple so I should have expected it."

An awkward silence fell between Alfred and Arthur both not knowing what to say to the other.

Alfred continued to scratch the back of his neck as he thought that this might be the best time to ask Arthur out. _"Come on Alfred you can do this. You can ask him out. You. Can. Do. This."_

Eventually Alfred looked at Arthur only to find that Arthur was looking at him, but he just as quickly looked away from Alfred. "So . . . um Arthur I was wondering" This caused Arthur to look back to Alfred even if it was just out of the corner of his eye. "if the next time that you don't have a shift to work and I don't classes to go to . . . do you . . . you want to hang out together. Just you and me no one else."

* * *

 **A/N: sorry that it's been a while since I last updated this fanfic. I had started it a while ago before I had to come back to uni and I was working on it in my spare time along with my other fanfics and I was figuring out what I wanted to happen during this chapter.**

 **hope that everyone has had a nice valentines day and as a special treat from me to those that read my other fics I have another update planned for today, not gonna say which one it is though.**

 **favs, follows and reviews are all welcomed, please let me know what you think of this so far.**

 **till next time gxgirl-93 out**


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